Your Thoughts: It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas

Later tonight the long-awaited TV film, "It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie" is airing on NBC. Let us know what you think of the special. What were your favorite scenes? What would you like to have seen differently? What character were you most excited to see in the movie?

Also here is my review of the film. You may want to wait until you see the film to read it if you don't like knowing spoilers in advance.

Thats a cool and well written review Phillip, glad you liked it when you saw it - it really seems to be a step nearer getting things back to where they should be again. I see you are also aware that the Theatre set could become awfully familar next year !!

loved it. thought the movie was great. voices were off, but i wasn't complaining. i thought the movie was funny. i thought lew zealand was halarious poping up wanting to get his act in the show. got tired of little hints that nbc produced the movie. but i enjoyed it..

I just finished watching the movie it was great. I truly thought the whole thing was funny. It had a real Muppet Twist and with the cast of Muppets in it, it's to good for words. I liked the voices of Janice and Scooter whoever did them should recieve praise. Even though Jerry Nelson wasn't credited in the movie, you could swear that it was hi doing the voices of all his characters (except Lew Zeland), I also think he did the voice of the announcer for the Muppet Christmas Show. When Daniel (David Arquette) showed Kermit how it would be if he had never been born I thought that the version of Beaker as a bouncer was hillarious with his buff body. All the voices we're done well too. So kudos to the Muppet performers and the whole company for such a good job.

This was a great special. Okay, about twenty minutes could have been cut out and saved for a special edition DVD, but this has to be my favorite Muppet special to date. There is a difference in specials and movies because they function on different levels. Despite some pacing problems, it's packed with Muppety goodness.

I liked Scooter and Sam in the club. In fact, it's my favorite part! It was rather disturbing and that's what I found fun. I actually found Beaker's biceps more disturbing, but liked that too. The purists must remember that this is an alternate reality.

Who the heck is doing Jerry's characters? Robin sounded off, but passable. Lew was a little strange, especially his laugh. I couldn't tell who was doing Stalter or Pops.

Sam is the only character that should have been recast. The rest where really close. Fozzie amazed me. Yes, it's different, but as close as possible. It can only get better.

Janice sounded odd too, but I'm glad she's back so I don't mind. I completely endorse Brian Henson as Scooter. He captures the wit and mannerisms of the character and has a similar voice. None of the replacements were as jarring as Steve's Kermit was over a decade ago (he's really grown into it though).

The story, well...it could have been better. I didn't like Pepe as a bad guy. He was funny! The casting was pretty good - yes, even Whoopi. (I know, shoot me now.) And the fan site comment cracked me up!

I can't wait to watch this without trying to spot everything. I am certain this was shot in HD Widescreen and that's probably what has delayed the DVD version. Such scenes like Scooter talking to some babes backstage and the theater meeting expose that the frame was filled with much more information. But we got the gist of it. A widescreen version will be well worth the wait.

Wow. I'm in shock. I loved it. Loved it . Loved it. Loved it. I know truly know what the word heartwarming means. I just had a good feeling inside after it ended. It had everything. When they first showed the after-party at the beginning showing all the muppets a huge smile grew on my face. First let me discuss the new character voices:

Fozzieerfect. Jacobson pefectly captured the right tone in Fozzie's voice.

Piggy:another perfect for Jacobson. Could hardly even tell the difference between his and Oz's.

Scooter:Great. Could tell it was different but still great.

Janice:a little bit too deep, but still really good.

Rowlfidn't say that much but sounded good from what I heard.

Animal:Really good. A little gruff but still good.

Samrobably the most-off one. It was ok but Sam just sounded too much like Yoda.

I loved the story and it had so many great and well-written references and lines. There's so many I can't even name right now. Here's another thing. First off I was happy just to have a song in the movie but to have it sung by Gonzo. It's probably one of the best Muppet songs in a long time. I can't wait to watch it again. I really hope they release a special edition DVD of this. They could have some great stuff on it. Deleted scenes. A commentary with Kermit,Piggy,Gonzo,Pepe and David Arquette maybe. The only thing that kind of upset me was that NBC cut off Fozzie beginning to sing just to show an ad for American Dreams. Anyway I absolutely loved it and can say that the future looks very bright for the muppets.

I just got finished watching the movie and I loved it. It was a lot better then KSY. Since I took 3 pages of notes (i'm such a geek) I pick a few things from them.

*I loved them comment about Gonzo's mold collection.
*Janice and Scooter were pretty good. Their personalities are still there and I'm sure their voices will get better too.
*Sam's hair and voice scared me.
*What happened to Jerry?
*I hated the croc hunter and the grinch. Fozzie was adorable and funny looking but I didnt like the whos.
*The kermie statue was awesome.
* "muppet internet fan site" yeah buddy!
*Doc Hopper!
*I loved the club scene, maybe because I'm young. Scooter looked great. It would be cool if palisades made a rave Scooter. I'm just glad that what he did would only happen if Kermie wasn't born because its really out of character for him.
*Kermit kissed Piggy? Whats up w/ that?
*The voice dubbing thing at the end was funny.
*The songs were wonderful. Its nice to hear new Muppet songs.
This movie was so great. I just hated all of NBC's plugs... My grandfather evened laughed and he never laughs, especially @ the Muppets. & My mom is now a Pepe and Bobo fan. She'll have to join the BBB. Thats all I have to say for now. I need spell check.

--Fozzie! Finally. He's not dumb, he's got a big heart, but he bumbles.

--Scooter and Janice. It's great to have them back! They're voices aren't 100% perfect. However, if we're expecting their voices to sound like they came right out of 1978, then we're living in a fantasy world.

--"You don't run one of those Muppet internet fan sites, do you?" (Ok, I fell off my bed, and laughed so hard at that)

--Yoda

--Pepe. I felt he was used wonderfully. But I love Pepe.

Overall, it was good. Not spectacular, but a great step in the right direction. It's great to see the Muppets in a new production *in* character.

I'll have to watch it again to organize my thoughts, but right now, I'm happy.

Hey Guys...
This is my first post on the forum. I love the muppets... I think about them all the time... just like they were real. Maybe I'm pathetic... Anyway
I love the new movie... I enjoyed just about every minute of it... but I was disturbed when I saw Scooter Cage Dancing. In a thong type thing. If I were a parent I'm not sure I would have liked that. Am I the only person who felt that. The muppets are great. And I love the overall message and hilarium of the movie. But I think it could have been without that.

Just curious what other people thing?
Love ya all and the muppets thru Christ,
Kev

Please forgive me all, but I turned the thing off. Can someone tell me if Frank Oz quit? I am impressed with Scooter, I think Hunt would be impressed too.
NOW... I think Jim is rolling over in his grave. This was a raunchy version of the Muppets with all those "inuendos." This was not the Muppets, this was Crank Yankers.
Kermit is not very Kermit - like. "Porn is fine."? Not something Kermit would say, and I was really begining to appreciate Steve too.
Thoughts? Am I alone on this one?

On the whole, I really enjoyed this movie. I thought parts of the beginning were a little odd, what with angels working in cubicles and Pepe using sexual dialogue (an element that occured way too often in this special--probably NBC's idea). But the Moulin Scrooge number and Fozzie being chased by the Crocidile Hunter and a bunch of angry Who's really captured me. Those were hilarious Muppet momments.

As for the voices, Miss Piggy was dead on. Fozzie was off a bit, but I got used to it after awhile. Janice was pretty good, Statler and Scooter got a passing grade, but Sam needs some work. All the same, I echo previous sentiments that it's great to see some more of these guys doing stuff--especially Scooter and Rowlf (hope to hear more of him soon).

The story could have used less cliches, but I liked the whole "Wonderful Life" spin. While having Whoopi Goldberg playing "the boss" was rather strange, it provided some great elements like the buff Beaker (hilarious!) and the modern Doc Hopper place.

I totally agree with Phillip's rating, four big ol' Kermit heads out of five. For what it was, it deserved just that... I'd say A Very Merry Muppet Christmas is to made for TV movies, as Muppet Christmas Carol is to movies, and that means alot from me. I love in the beginning when everyones exchanging gifts, and they face the same problem Ernie and Bert face in "Christmas Time on Sesame Street". I thought that was a really fun reference. Anyway, I'll talk more later about my impressions, goodnight Muppet fan site.

ballington: I not real sure if Frank Oz is going to come back anytime soon. In Entertainment Weekly He was asked : "Did you grieve at Yoda's digital conversion?" Frank: "I had no qualms. Puppeteering is such a ******* hard thing to do. ::laughs:: Do I miss it a little bit? yeah. But I'm happier it's gone to another plateau.

About the "disturbing" parts, I did like some of it. I liked the club scene. Atleast that scene happened when kermit was in a world where he never existed. If it wasn't in that world I'd probably freak out since its so out of character and so unlike the muppets. As long as they dont get carried away i'm fine with most of it.

EmmyMik: I showed her the picture and she was unimpressed. ; (Anything tastes better when ur looking at a picture of Bill. lol

The "disturbing" cage dance was on screen for less than a second so I find no harm in it. The Muppet Show characters were always for an adult audience in my eyes. The Muppet Show's pilot episode was titled Sex and Violence, but I guess some fans remember them more for the Muppets Take Manhattan and Muppet Christmas Carol projects these days.

We should remember that scene was supposed to disturb Kermit. Sam in a night club dancing with a pacifier in his mouth? It would never happen. It was a j o k e and I took it like that. Scooter's shorts were pretty short, but he was clearly not wearing a thong. It was a wacky scene, but there is no need to exaggerate it. LOL! What was with his eyes, though? That kind of creeped me out.

I thik the gay stereotype pig was less appropriate than that 20 frames of Scooter footage. However, I'm glad that pig made the final cut. It's just that I can see people getting upset over that. Humor is always going to offend somebody.

The one scene I found slightly objectionable was when Pepe stared at Bitterman's cleavage in her office. I didn't mind, but it wouldn't bother me if they decided to trim that out. It has been reported that much was already cut from that scene. Eeeek!